Invasion Of The Body Snatchers - Contextual issues essay

In what ways does Invasion Of The Body Snatchers reflect the time in which it was made?

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers is an allegorical film that reflects it’s contextual issues of the 1950’s, the main issue being McCarthyism and communism. For example, after Miles’ prologue, we cut to the beginning of the flashback. The film is set in a small town, not a major city or capital and this is quite unusual and different for the genre’s expectations and the audience’s expectations, however it helps create a sense of mystery and it puts them on edge. This expresses that it wasn’t just in the bigger cities, but also in the smaller areas of America, representing that if it happened to them, it can happen anywhere else. Miles speaks in the narrative “Everything looked normal, but it wasn’t, something wasn’t right.” The contextual signifier of this is that McCarthyism was an internal problem, it wasn’t visible or noticeable but people still shrugged it off like it wasn’t a threat.

Another good example would be that when there were more PODS forming, they begin to grow in positions of authority – I.E A Police officer and doctor who ignored Miles’ complaint of the POD body located on the pool table of Jack’s home and the one found in the basement of Becky’s father’s basement. The POD’s increase in number is the signifier of the people who started to believe in McCarthy’s influence and become labelled as “Communists”, however those who would not accept McCarthy’s words or would even question his authority would be automatically black-listed, you would be seen as a crazy and paranoid person just like in the film when Little Jimmy’s Mum and Uncle Ira look and sound normal, so when Jimmy and Uncle Ira’s niece started to complain and panic about it they were shrugged off as paranoid and crazy.

When more and more people started complaining about these symptoms of people not being the same, Miles finally takes the problem seriously and realises that it is starting to emerge into a grave issue. We start to see more people, for example, Becky’s father, Uncle Ira’s niece and Mack at the gas station become affected by the condition and this is used to express the further amount of people that begin to believe McCarthy’s P.O.V and adopt his ideologies of being a communist. By now, The Alien Registration Act (1940) was now taken into account as McCarthy is enabled to discredit people and deny them their constitutional rights; 1^st Amendment – Freedom of speech and the 4^th Amendment – Right to remain silent. McCarthy uses those amendments to accuse the people of being guilty without any proof. The idea of the PODs being referred to as ‘others’ and ‘aliens’ is signifying that because the PODs are identical to us physically and mentally, its highlighting that we’re the people who make it worse by giving into the ideological nature of McCarthyism, or in the films’ terms, the PODs.

The day after the events with the bodies and the authority, Miles wakes up and is satisfied with the explanation given by the authority figures. However, his suspicion has been noted and he is now being watched with suspicion. Many were discouraged because of the questioning of the new status quo and changes in the community. People felt that authority figures such as police officers, psychiatrists, doctors etc. were untrustworthy because they began to adopt McCarthy’s ideology as people felt their thoughts and personal beliefs were being undermined as well as questioned. Those who displayed signs of opposition, questioned McCarthy or were considered to be potentially threatening were identified and viewed with suspicion. The people in society who followed McCarthy’s beliefs also started to adopt these point of views and those under investigation or suspicion where viewed as being dangerous.

Whilst at Jack’s home, Miles discovers more PODs and realises that there is a conspiracy taking place. He attempts to phone the FBI (Authority figure) but they won’t offer assistance. Instead, he tells his friends to escape whilst he waits. “If there is no-one here to answer, they will know we have gone.” Paranoia is starting to take over! As McCarthy’s influence grew, he became a challenging foe for anyone. If he attacked, labelled or suggested that a person was a communist, their lives would be over. For some, literally, as many people committed suicide after being black listed. People feared to speak out against McCarthy and make a stand so instead they would adopt the status quo. McCarthy’s authority was so powerful and widespread that people in all ranks of government even began to fear being labelled and black listed, result being that they backed him and even changed policies to support him. That was when people started to become frightened and paranoid of their own government!

When Miles attempts to leave town, he encounters a number of people who are suspected of being POD people. He is correct each time! As Miles becomes more aware of the situation and more POD people come to challenge it, the PODs numbers start to increase vastly, further isolating him and positioning him as a threat as him and Becky are the only few left. When at the gas station, Miles says “I saw Mack checking the trunk of my car. He could have been checking my spare tyre, but… I didn’t think so.” From this point forwards, all of the characters start to act suspiciously, mostly the people who Miles once trusted are now POD people. The scene at Sally’s house with the POD being placed in the babies’ room shows how an ideology can be passed down from parents to children.  The comment made here is that if the people are to stand up and challenge McCarthy, it must be now before it’s too late. After McCarthy’s ideology became supreme, people became increasingly paranoid. As this was an ideologically invasion people could not be positively sure that their closest friends, family members and neighbours were not a threat. As the paranoia grew, it led to many more people exposing their own family members and friends as “Communist sympathisers”. People did this out of fear and hatred against the threat of ‘The Other’.

Miles returns to Sally’s house for help, as he arrives he sees through the window that all of his friends have became POD people. The PODs have now taken over all areas of American society and anyone who opposes them is seen as a serious threat.

In conclusion, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers contains many signifiers that highlight the reference of contextual issues of 1950s America, mostly being presented by the ‘aliens’, which in finish, is us.